Match-machine



UNITED sTATEs PATENT orme-E.

LEOPOLD THOMAS AND JOS. THOMAS,y OF ALLEGI-IENY CITY, PENNSYLVANIA..

MATCH-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent No.

To all whom z5 may concern:

Be it known that we, LnoroLD THOMAS and JOSEPH THOMAS, of Allegheny City, in the county of Allegheny and Stateof Pennsylvania, have invented cert-ain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Making Wood Matches; and we do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, `forming part of this specification, in which- Figure 1, is a plan of our machine. Fig. 2, is a side view. Fig. 3, is an end view of the front of the machine. Fig. 4 is an end view of the rear of our machine.

Our machine is designed to perform automatically the several operations of cutting out the matches from strips of wood previously cut to the right length; applying the phosphoric composition/to, one extremity of thematches, and then packing the finished matches in boxes which are closedup by the machine, a cert-ain number of matches {",being placed in each box.

Machines have been previously constructed which perform some of these operations and yet require much of the work to be done by hand; our machine however only [SOrequires to have the blocksk of woodv to be fed in, and the boxes for the reception of the matches supplied, and then nothing more is required to be done.

fe will now proceed to describe in detail' the various contrivances used in our machine for the accomplishment of these objects. l

In the several figures a, a, 1s the frame work of our machine, consisting of a horizontal table, supported by legs or end pieces.

On this table, near the front end of thema` chine, is a sliding carriage Z9, which moves horizontally between two guides c, c. On the top of this carriage are two feed rollers, d, el, placed with their periphery as far apart as t-he length of the matches which are to be made by the machine. These feed rollers have rough surfaces, so that they may gradually draw in the block of wood from which the matches are to be cut.

Friction rollers or cog wheels e, e, at the end of the feed rolls d, d, pressing against or gearing into each other, give t-he feed rollers the required motion to draw down into the carriage a block of wood placed bev tween them. The reciprocating motion of 12,297, dated January 23, 1855.

the carriage b, is communicated by means of a campy, on the fly wheel shaft g. The

cam working against a friction roller lain the front of the carriage. This balli` double,-being ,of the shape shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2,V so that each revolution of the ily wheel shaft g, brings the cam f',

twice in contact with the sliding carriage b,

and thus Vcauses itto be pushed forwardl twice for each revolution of the shaft the backward motion of the' sliding car-l riage is not produced by a' spring, but the bent lever z', which has its fulcrum5 at k, the extremity of its long arm lyingbehind the friction roller L, in the carriage Z), andy the extremity of the short arm of the; lever z', lying within the circlel of motion vofthe points of the cam f, is touched by each cam as it passes around immediately after that` cam has given the carriage vits forward m0:4 tion, and by depressing theextremity ofthe short arm of the lever c', presses blaQk the long arm, and gives the carriage b, its back? ward motion tov be ready for 'the' forward stroke to be given to it by the other cam-.fe or more properly by the other halfl of the cam f. Immediately in front of the carriage Z2, is the cutter j, which is. Iliade of steel. The face of the cutter resemblesV a row of cylindrical punches (such as are used for punching holes in leather &c.). s et in a frame, each punch havingv a sharp, edge.

is a block of brass Z. Through which are Immediately in front of this Cutter bored a series of channels or bores, each bore corresponding with and forming. a continuation of the bore in the. several punches or cutters. These bores gradually enlarging in diameter forcethe cutter frameV toward the front of the machine, so that the matches when cut by the'cutters, may pass easily through their respective chan? nels. The cutter frame land channel block are together n'ot quite so long as thematches, so that when the matches are cut they .pigeject about one eighth of an inch b'eyondfthe .i

forward the cam f,p'whichfrcesfthe end y.

'of the block of `wood against'the edge of the cutters j, and the wood being placed in the machine with its grain running in the same direction 'as the line of motion of the car` riage b, the wood is forced through the punches or cutters y', each making one match. The carriageV b, is then withdrawn by the bent lever z', and the wood being drawn down by the feed rollers until the edge of the block will againcome in contact with the edge of the cutters j, the operation of cutting out the matches is repeated, and the matches which were made at the former stroke of the carriage b, are pushed by those newly made out of the channels, and are re'- ceived by the carrier Wheel m. This wheel is placed at the front of the machine, immediately before the mouth or extremity of the channels Z, and is designed to receive the matches as they pass from the cutters through the channels, and to supply them with the necessary phosphoric preparation. This wheel m is solid, and is nearly, though not quite, as thick as the matches are long. A series of holes are bored through this wheel at uniform distances apart, around the wheel near to its circumference. These holes (which are of such diameter as to receive the matches asthey pass from the cutters, and allow them to pass through are bored so that the center of each hole in every series is in line of a radius from the center of thewheel, and so that when any one series of holes is opposite the mouth of the channels passing from the cutters, the holes in the carrier wheel will correspond exactly with the holes in the mouth of the channel block. There may be five, ten, twenty, or even more cutters in a row, in which case the number of holes in each series in the carrier wheel will of course be the same. If desired, two more sets of cutters may be placed, one above the other, instead of having so ymany in a row, which would unnecessarily increase the diameter of the carrier wheel. The phosphoric preparation is supplied to the matches by aid of the carrier wheel as follows: A roller n, the surface of which is supplied with a phosphoric preparation, revolves in front of the holes in the carrier wheel, beneathV t-he point where the matches enter the wheel, the4 roller being made to revolve by a band n passing over a pulley on the end of the roller and over the Hy wheel shaft g. In its revolutions the roller deposits small portions of the phosphoric preparation in the holes designed toV receive the matches, so that when the matches pass into the carrier wheel, the wheel not being as wide as the matches are long, the end of each match projects beyond the face of the wheel, carrying with it the particle of phosphoric 'preparation deposited b the roller, whichadheres tothe end of t e match. The matches thus placed in the frame work of the machine.

carrier wheel m, are in their turn forced out by those coming after them, and are deposited on a sliding shelf o, which lies close to the outer face of the carrier wheel, just .below the level of the mouth of the cutter block. As there is a double cam f, on the Hy wheel shaft g, so that the sliding carriage makes two strokes for every revolution of the shaft, there will be two deposits of matches on the sliding shelf for each revolu tion of the shaft. As-the holes in the wheel are deprived of their phosphoric preparation by the passage through them of the matches, it is necessary that the wheel should pass around, in order that a series of holes sup plied with the lpreparation should `present themselves before the mouth of the channels through which the matches will pass from the cutters, and also that the holes already exhausted should pass down to the roller n, to be replenished. A gradual and constant motion of the carrier wheel will notanswer, as it must remain stationary while the matches are being passed into it. The requisite motion is accomplished by means of a wedge 70, worked by a connection with the sliding carriage b. This wedge works in a slot in an upright strip 7,-which slides up and down at the rear end of the frame of the machine. YThis upright l is jointed at its lower extremity to a finger 7*, which works in the teeth of a ratchet wheel and is kept in place against the ratchet wheel by the springl s. This ratchet wheel t is placed at the rear end of the machine on the extremity of the shaft u, which carries the carrier wheel, so that each time the upright (l, is raised by the wedge p, the finger 1" turns the ratchet wheel slightly round and with it the carrier wheel, the teeth in the ratchet wheel t, being so regulated that each time the ratchet wheel is moved one tooth farther around which is twice for each revolution of the Hy wheel shaft g, it brings `the next series of holes in the carrier wheel to their right place to re ceive the matches from the cutter frame j.

Having thus described at length the operation of making the matches it remains to explain the means employed for boxing them.

The sliding` shelf o, terminates in an upright piece o, the inner face of which is a semicircula-r curve. Care must be taken that the end of this upright piece fv, next to the face of the carrier wheel, does not extend to the whole width of the sliding shelf o, as it must be so far from the face of the carrier wheel, as to clear the ends of the matches projecting from the carrier wheel. When this sliding shelf has received a double charge of finished matches, it is drawn away from before the carrier wheel as hereinafter described, being slid horizontally to one side, until the upright v comes in contact with" a similar upright fu", fixed on the table of the I Y' The face of the upright o', which is opposite to the face of the upright 11, has also a semicircular curve or groove, so that when the two uprights o and o, come in contact, they form a hollow cylinder, inclosing the matches made by the machine during one revolution of the flywheel shaft. These are held between the uprights o and fv" in a round bunch ready to be placed in their box, or rather to have a box placed over them by the machine.

The boxes in which the matches are to be inclosed are cylindrical and in two pieces, one the box, and the other the lid. These pieces of the boxes are placed in pipes fw, w, one on each side of the upright o, the cormer containing the lids, and the latter the boxes. These pipes fw, w', are made long enough to contain a number of boxes, which are continually supplied to the machine through these pipes fw, w. At the base of each pipe w, w', is a circular opening opposite to the bundle of matches'held between the uprights o, o. These openings are to receive two plungers which pass through the pipes w, fw', respectively, at their base, and pressing against the lid and box in opposite directions, push them over the bundle of matches, and close the box. The plungers a', w, are actuated by levers y, y, which are moved forward as hereinafter described, and are caused to recede (when the boxes are filled) by springs s', s. When the plungers are drawn back, the sliding shelf 0, also passes on to its former place in front of the carrier wheel, and is ready for a repetition of the motion already described, when it has received another charge of matches.

The requisite motion is communicated to the sliding shelf o, and the plungers, in the following manner: At the other endl of the fly wheel shaft g, from the fly wheel g is placed a cam e, which gives the requisite motion to the lever a', the fulcrum of which is at b', and the other end is attached to a shoving head c', which is connected with the end of the sliding shelf 0. By means of this cam the sliding shelf 0 is at the proper moment suddenly drawn back to bring together the uprights v and o, but the stroke of the cam is not yet exhausted, and' the sliding shelf being stopped by the upright fu, is not able to move any further back. The shoving head c, which works in a groove in the table of the machine, isl connected with the end of the sliding shelf by a with the shoving head. When however the sliding shelf is arrested in its progress by the two uprights v and /v coming in contact, the stroke of the cam not being exhausted, the shoving head is drawn still further back, the

spiral spring e being compressed, and the shoving head o being drawn away from the end of the sliding shelf. The effect of this independent motion of the shoving head, is to press between and against the head or short arms of the levers y, y', wihch causes the extremities of the long arms of theselevers to press inward, thus forcing the plungers m', through the pipes fw, lw', for the purpose of boxing the lmatches as before described. So soon as the cam e', causes the lever a to begin to return, the shoving head is drawn back by the spiral spring e', and again comes in contact with the end' of the sliding shelf, and the springs s', s causes the plungers to fly back out of the pipes'w, 'Lb'. vThe lever a then returns the sliding shelf o to its irst `position before the carrier wheel and is ready for repeated action as before. When the sliding shelf has resumed vits position, if the box which has been filled has not fallen ofi from the machine, it will be pushed off the sliding shelf by the fresh charge of matches passing out of the carrier wheel. ,n

Having thus fully described our improved machine and its construction and operation, what we claim as ourinvention vandV desire to secure by Letters Patent isl. The use of the sliding carriage with the feed;V rollers for the purposes hereinbefore described.

2. The combination of sliding shelf, shoving head, levers and plungers for the purpose of packing the nished matches in boxes. p

3. The carrier wheel and roller for a plying the phosphoric composition to t e matches by machinery. f

LEOPOLD THOMAS. `JOSEPH THOMAS.

Witnesses:

W. BANEWELL, WM. N. HOWARD. 

